Hunting Partners
by Person456
Summary: Katniss and Gale go on a hunt in the forest.


**_This _****_story is a one shot written for promptingeverthorne on tumblr._**

Katniss had been waiting by the fence for about half an hour before she saw the tall figure of the boy she was waiting for approaching her. She usually met him in the forest, not wanting to risk standing at the fence for too long but that day she had decided to wait for him. She wasn't really afraid of getting in trouble, even the peacekeepers bought what they killed. He raised his eyebrows at her, probably surprised to see her at the fence but she didnèt say anything to him. Instead, she slipped through the hole in the fence and waiting for him to join her on the other side. They walked together in silence until they got to the tree where she kept her bow and arrows. He told her that he was going to go see if there was anything in his snares and she nodded her head in response, her long braid bobbing up and down as she did.

She began to walk through the forest, dried leaves crunching under her boots. It was slightly chilly outside but she didn't mind. The cold made it easier to concentrate than heat did. Heat made people lazy, something that she didn't appreciate. She herself never had the time to be lazy she was always working hard to keep her family alive. She had been doing it since she was twelve, after all. Now, at sixteen, it had just become her routine. Get up, get ready, help Prim get ready, walk with her to school, come home, drop Prim off and change in to her hunter gear and then meet Gale in the forest. It was the same every day.

She had spotted a bunny and took a few steps closer, trying to be light on her feet like her father had taught her to. She heard rustling in the leaves behind her and wiped around quickly, pulling back the string on her bow that already had an arrow in it to aim at the noise. Gale stood there with a smirk on his face, hands raised in a show of surrender as she aimed at him. She shot him a dirty look before turning back around. The bunny was still there, stupid thing and she aimed and let the arrow fly through the air. It hit the furry creature dead in the eye and she began to walk towards it. She reached for it, "Anything in the snares?" She wondered as she pulled the arrow out of it's head and put it back in her quiver. She slipped the dead animal in to her bag and turned to face the tall boy once again, looking up in to his cool gray eyes. "A rabbit." He stated, gesturing to the belt around his waist which had a dead rabbit tied to it. She let her eyes wander downwards to examine the rabbit, "That's two rabbits in total then."

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" She made a face at him when he asked the question, damn him for realizing that something was up. "No." She stated quickly as she turned back around and began to walk in the direction she had been going in before she had spotted the rabbit. "Come on, Catnip." He had gotten in front of her quickly, being able to take longer strides than she could due to his height. She scowled at him and he chuckled, which only made her more annoyed. "Be quiet." The words were quick and demanding, she did not mean it as a suggestion but as an instruction. She marched past him in the direction of the lake that she had often gone to as a child. She hadn't been intending to go there but she found her feet taking her there anyways, it was, after all, a place of comfort to her. She could feel his presence behind her, following her quietly as she walked. She appreciated the silent companionship but she would never admit that to him.

It felt like they had been walking for hours by the time she say the crystal blue lake ahead of them. She went to the shoreline and sat at the waters edge. She knew that if she felt it, it would be cold. She stared out to the colored leaves on the trees across the lake from her as Gale crouched down beside her, sitting in silence as she did. She felt the warmth of his hand on her knee and glanced over to find him staring at her. She knew this was his way of trying to comfort her and it was working. The slight touch made a feeling erupt in her stomach although she could not determine what that feeling was or what it meant so she just brushed it off. She rested her hand over his, her way of telling him that she appreciated him trying to comfort her.

She wasn't really sure how long they sat together like that but after a while she felt like they should make their way back. They hadn't actually gotten very much hunting done on this hunting trip and so she stood up and brushed off her pants. She waited for him this time instead of marching off without him. His very presence by the lake had made her feel better and she smiled to herself about how she was so lucky to have a friendship where just being around each other made them feel better. They got back to the fence as the sky was turning pink, which alerted her that it was going to be a nice day tomorrow. "Same place tomorrow?" His deep voice after so much silence startled her but she laughed at his words, they met there everyday and she knew that that would change for a few more months until he had to go to work in the mines. "Same place tomorrow." She confirmed as she slipped through the fence and started on her walk home.


End file.
